Car Review: 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3

2009 Mazda RX-8

PHOTO: Handout, Mazda

Sports car sounds like superbike

By David Booth, Canwest News Service

Originally published: August 10, 2011

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I’ve always had a soft spot for Mazda’s RX-8. Mix one part sports car with an equal part four-door practicality (OK, so maybe it’s actually half a part four-door practicality) with a hint of supercar styling and the howl of a superbike and you have one entertaining yet semi-practical sports car.

Indeed, it’s hard not to be entertained. That 1.3 rotary-nee-Wankel engine, for instance, is a treat. Oh, it may not be the torquiest beast, its 159 pound-feet of torque is more four-cylinder subcompact than eight-cylinder supercar, but there is 232 horsepower on hand and, spun hard enough, the RX will scoot about.

Spinning it hard is one of automotivedom’s aural delights for Mazda’s Renesis motor at its 9,000-rpm redline sounds eerily like a 600-cc superbike at full chat, albeit without the excessive noise rice rockets always seem to generate at 2 a.m. seemingly right outside my bedroom window. And, unlike most piston engines that feel like they’re straining when they’re revved that hard, the RX-8’s Wankel actually thrives at such stratospheric engine speeds. If anything, it gets smoother and, other than the symphony piping out the twin exhausts, it’s amazingly calm about such shenanigans.

It could use a few more beans under the hood, however. Once upon a time — say, about 10 years ago — 232 ponies were enough to get the blood boiling.

These days, everything from a RAV4 to a Saturn Aura can boast more. It makes one long for the day when the RX-7, the RX-8’s iconic predecessor, was turbocharged and just as fast as the Porsche that just blew by me.

Surprisingly, there are not a lot of turbo kits out there, but Mazdaspeed (Mazda’s in-house tuning arm) does offer accessory exhaust systems and a cold air intake system. Nonetheless, for the sporting set, the RX-8’s biggest demerit will be that its bite doesn’t quite match its bark and, of course, the rotary engine’s notorious thirst for fossil fuel.

They’re certainly not going to have any issues with its handling, at least not in the upgraded R3 form. Essentially an autocross car with a warranty, the R3’s handling gets a boost in steering and outright grip thanks to larger and stickier 19-inch Bridgestone Potenza tires, firmer Bilstein dampers and stiffer suspension bits. It’s not as if the base version is soft and wimpy, but, with the upgrades, the R3 takes on the role of Porsche killer. Of course, the ride suffers somewhat, though even over our frost-heaved roads the RX isn’t actually uncomfortable; it leans much more toward Porsche firm but compliant rather than Nissan GT-R firm and unyielding.

In fact, the R3’s main comfort limitation is the room afforded for four passengers. Part of the package is some partially leathered Recaro front buckets. For the slim of waist, they’re a great fit. But that means that 50% of North Americans now considered overweight just aren’t going to fit. And while the RX-8’s rear seats aren’t just the decorative perches as in Porsche 911s and Jaguar XKRs, they are meant for the slim and limber. In theory, the RX-8’s rear seats and twin rear "suicide" doors should make the Mazda practical for four. In reality, it can be but only if the foursome are all serious exercise fanatics. The base RX-8, sans the Recaros, is a little more accommodating, but if you’re a fiftysomething with a serious aversion to exercise and rice cakes, roominess will be an issue.

Other aspects of the R3’s interior will, however, please the hedonist. Though those Recaro seats are only partially hide-bound, numerous other trim bits — including the steering wheel, shifter knob, door-mounted hand rests and the door for the centre-mounted hatch — are covered in black leather and held together with some attractive red stitching. The 300-watt Bose audio system easily fills the small cabin with tunes, and the switchgear, though faintly yesteryear, doesn’t look out of place in a 2009 sports car.

On the other hand, the steering wheel is only tilt-adjustable and the spoiler that makes up part of the R3 package diminished what was already a paucity of visibility through the rear-view mirror. And why any $40,000 car sold in Canada doesn’t come with seat heaters is beyond me.

All of this means that the RX-8, as with all automobiles, is a flawed beast.

It’s too small to be considered a serious family car and a few ponies short of supercar status. But, it is the only true four-door sports car, does not sacrifice handling one iota for the addition of those two extra doors and,for a specific demographic — the young and lithe starting a new family hoping not to sacrifice their youthful enthusiasm for sports cars — the RX-8 is a great compromise.